The James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) has detected a mid-infrared flare from Sagittarius A*, the supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy. This finding fills a long-standing gap in observations and could help explain why these flares occur.
Sagittarius A* is 4 million times more massive than the sun and 26,000 light-years away from Earth. It’s surrounded by a disk of dust and gas that regularly sends off high-energy flashes, or flares, due to magnetic field disturbances. When two magnetic field lines connect, releasing energy, energized electrons zip along these lines at nearly the speed of light, emitting radiation.
Until recently, astronomers had only observed these flares in visible light and radio waves, but not in the middle part of the electromagnetic spectrum. The JWST’s mid-infrared detection has filled this gap, revealing connections between visible and radio wave measurements that suggest electrons are indeed ejecting photons as they move along magnetic field lines.
The telescope’s observations support simulations that suggest criss-crossing magnetic field lines drive these flares. Researchers also saw links between variations in short-wavelength measurements and mid-infrared measurements, indicating the same process called synchrotron emission is occurring.
While the findings provide new insights into Sagittarius A*’s behavior, more research is needed to understand magnetic reconnection and turbulence in its accretion disk. The discovery marks an important step forward in understanding this complex phenomenon.
Source: https://www.livescience.com/space/james-webb-telescope-captures-1st-mid-infrared-flare-from-milky-ways-supermassive-black-hole